Darling, Can't You Hear Me?
by waayward
Summary: James Potter is submitted to the emergency room as a murder victim and his killer is still out there. Lily is at complete loss. It takes time to move on, but it takes someone even more special to help you move through it. LE/SS. AU.
1. I Will Follow You Into the Dark

**So, this was just a random idea that popped into my head and I needed to get it down. If anyone's interested in me continuing, leave me love and let me know .**

It would be all over the town soon. Nothing this big would be kept hidden.

Unbelievable. Unimaginable. James Potter was dead. _Murdered_ mind you.

A crowd had gathered behind the recklessly set up caution tape at the bottom of the property. Cop cars swamped the street and up the drive way. An ambulance was strategically parked for a quick rush to the hospital and fire trucks were parked up on the front lawn.

An atmosphere of panic and fear had settled itself in. The cool breeze had seemed to still and the sky didn't seem so bright anymore.

Outrageous. Preposterous. This didn't seem possible.

After what seemed like hours to the array of people outside, life from inside the house finally emerged. Flashing lights from the vehicles practically blinded whoever had their eyes open rushing down the walk way. A howling woman dressed in a thick green sweater was hunched over a lump draped with a white sheet on a stretcher.

Her fiery red locks were in disarray around her face and there was blood on her pants. A police officer was trying to keep her calm but his attempts were obviously useless. The woman was thrust into the back of the ambulance with the body and a couple of paramedics and she sat down in a seat next to the stretcher.

It was almost impossible to try and touch her husband with the paramedics performing so many different procedures on him. She recognized some of the instruments but had no idea what they did. She wished they'd stop poking him with things; he didn't like to be bothered.

She tried to grab a hold of his hand but was cut off by one of the men.

"Excuse me, miss," his bald head was shining in the artificial light. Her eyes were burning. "I'm going to have to ask you to calm down. I know you're scared up but we're trying everything we can right now. Your husband is continuing to lose blood,"

Lose blood? She looked herself over. Bits of her clothing and skin were stained red and she was sure she had some on her face.

Time flew by and soon they came to a not-so-smooth stop at the hospital emergency entrance and she was left to chase after the staff and stretcher.

Immediately after entering, James was rushed to a private room for further help. She prayed and prayed and prayed. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that he had already lost too much blood for survival but she wasn't giving up hope.

The woman took in her surroundings. Doctors, nurses and patients were rushing up and down the hall. Again the lights were burning her eyes and the walls were just unflatteringly white. She was about to ask for help when a voice rang out for her.

"Misses Potter," a cute blond with her hair tied back came clicking up the hall with a clipboard in her hand; she held out her other. "I'm Doctor Coote. Listen, I know you're terrified but there's nothing you can do right now. Believe me; I have the best working on your husband right now so all we can do is wait it out."

"Lily," she spoke shaking her hand. It was her first intelligible words that came out since being back at the house.

"All right, well, I'm gone to go check back on your husband and I'll return with news as soon as I can," and with that, she waved and turned on her heel to click back down the hall leaving Lily all alone.

For fuck sakes. As soon as she can, huh? God knows how long she'd actually take.

Lily somehow managed to calm down during their conversation and realized how exhausted and what a mess she was. Her body was trembling. The three person couch against the pasty white wall looked invited. Lily was sure sleep was the last thing that was going to happen, but she laid out and closed her eyes anyway.

A harsh shake on her shoulder was what jolted her awake.

"Hmgh," was all she could manage to squeeze out. Lily's throat was absolutely dried up. Had she swallowed sand unknowingly?

Emerald green eyes met the face of Remus Lupin and Lily collided into him. His arms encircled her comfortingly.

"Oh Remus, I can't believe it," she bawled against his chest. Lupin rubbed soothing circles against her back which seemed to help a bit. "Where's Sirius?"

"On his way, I'm surprised he wasn't here before I was," he pushed Lily back.

Lupin looked utterly terrified. Lily wished that he could look calm just so it would rub off on her. His teeth were gnawing on his lower lip vigorously while foot tapped restlessly against the tile floor. Lupin was usually the calmest in any stressful situation but Lily decided that anyone was allowed to be freaking out right about now.

They both flopped down onto the couch and Lily laid her head on his shoulder. The light caught her wedding ring she chocked back another sob.

"Oh Remus," Lily repeated but she was cut off by a bellowing voice around the corner.

"What the _fuck_? What happened? How did this happen? Who the fuck stabbed my best friend and thought they could get away with it? I'll fucking kill him. I swear to God I will! Don't touch me you bastard."

Around the corner came Sirius looking absolutely fuming more than Lily and Lupin were terrified. A security guard eyed him from around the corner until he came up to the couple.

"Sirius, calm down please. We're still in a hospital you know," Lupin cautioned.

"Don't you fucking tell me what to do, _Moony_" clearly it was meant to be an insult but Sirius was too worked up to remember it was Lupin's nickname. "Is that your fucking best friend quarantined in a back room after being sought for murder?"

"Actually, _Padfoot_, yes it is if you haven't quite remembered. We're all here for James because we love him and if you can't get the through your fucking head-"

"Boys, please, please no fighting. I really don't need this," Lily cut in. Her almond shaped eyes were once again ringed with tears that threatened to fall.

Sirius huffed and plopped down in a recliner obviously frustrated with his lost argument and life.

"I haven't spoken to a nurse or doctor since I arrived here. So much for 'as soon as I can'. What a croc of shit!"

"I'd say that was about a half an hour ago, Lil. And if they haven't come to say anything yet I doubt they will for another little while. They have more patients to attend to and stuff," his hand came up and wiped a tear from her eye. "Why don't you just lay back down and I'll wake you up if anything happens."

Lupin had bit right through the skin and there was blood on his lip.

Again, sleep was the last thing she wanted to do but her eyelids felt like weights were attached to them. Lily closed her eyes and arranged her head comfortably in Lupin's lap. His hand came down to smooth her hair.

"You're such a flirt," Sirius whispered.

"I am not," Lupin shot back, "I'm being a nice friend. Unlike you I might say. You made no indication that you even knew Lily was here and you know she's hurting the most."

"The most?" Sirius sounded offended. "I knew James the longest; I'm the most upset here."

"You're a prat, you know that? A big prat."

Lily fell asleep before she could listen to the rest.

**I'm gonna try and keep this short but it's not likely ahaha. What did you guys think! All opinions are welcome. Expect further chapters to be much longer. This was just a little test, ya know. So, even if you don't leave me feedback, I really thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm going to push myself to make this really good and keep people sticking around! If the characters seemed a bit OOC, I will totally work on that too btw.**


	2. Morning Lady

**Wow, oh my gosh. When I first started to write this I really, really expected myself to stay dedicated towards it because it was during the summer. Well then... I'm sure nobody us interested in reading what I have to say here anyways, so finally, may I introduce you to chapter two!**

Lily awoke what left like minutes later, but she knew it was probably hours. Then why did she still feel so drained? And not just physically, but emotionally too.

She tried hard to repress the tears and feelings she knew were coming but it was impossible. Any second now the nurse could walk down the hall and say that they couldn't save her husband and that she was deeply sorry.

They may have only been newlyweds, but Lily was sure that they were going to last until old age took them both away. She looked down at her ring finger and finally let the tears fall. She began to sob, each intake of breathe seemed to tear her chest apart and it only made the tears fall harder.

James was her high school sweetheart and she poured out her heart to him. It was unbearable to think that at any moment it could all be ripped away from her. Her happiness, her new life, their new beginning. And what would happen if it was? James was clearly attacked and the culprit seemed to have just disappeared.

Disgusting. Repulsive. The thought only brought on more tears. Tears of despair and of bitterness.

Lily felt a pair of arms surround her and a hand rub circles on her back. "Shh, Lil," Lupin breathed in her ear, "It's going to be fine."

"Fine? Remus, in what manner is any of this going to be fine? I could lose my husband," Lily recoiled from his arms and began to wipe her eyes with the cuff of her sweater.

"Sorry Lil, I'm only trying to be helpful. We're all hurting,"

"It's fine. Where has Sirius gone off to?" She really wasn't at all interested considering his rudeness before.

"I think he went off to find Peter. Listen Lil, no matter what happens you know that I'll always be here for you," Lupin looked so sincere. He was always such a great friend to her and she couldn't help but to give him another hug.

The lighting in the hospital made their skin looked washed out. The scars on Lupin's face seemed to be more noticeable now. He said that he had been attacked by a dog when he was a child but Lily always found that there was something more behind that story.

Lupin sometimes seemed to appear poor. Along with his scars, his choice of clothing wasn't much of a help either. It's not that he lacked money either; Remus just never really saw what difference it made to either be dressed nice or raggedy.

From the right, Lily could hear the shuffling of footsteps coming down the hallway. She turned around to see Peter Pettigrew coming her way, followed by Sirius.

If Peter had been crawling down the hallway he could have been mistaken for a rat. Everything about him resembled a rodent. His long, grey-blond hair was unusually think for a boy his age and he had a habit of making a munching sound with his bucked teeth. Also, Lily wasn't sure if he had back problems or he was just always hunched over.

"Oh dear, oh me, oh my," his voice was awkwardly high-pitched as if he has never hit puberty, "What has happened to our dear friend, James? I cannot believe what has happened. What have I done?"

"Peter, you've done nothing wrong! Don't blame yourself. We all feel awful about this whole thing but we cannot go blaming ourselves. James was just in the wrong place at the wrong times, it seems," Lily tried best to keep her voice stable.

"Has there been any more news yet," asked Sirius.

"No, none," Lily replied "How long have we been here?"

"I'd say about 4 and a half hours," said Lupin.

And just as if the nurse had been listening, she came trudging their way. There were no emotions in her mannerisms leaving the group to only expect the worst.

"Are you the family?" she asked. Her forehead was creased and she seemed to be playing with her hands. Nobody with good news would ever have this expression on.

Lupin grabbed for Lily's hand and held tight.

"You all seem so very close and I hate to be the one to deliver this news to you," the nurse took in a deep breath, preparing to shatter the bond of a close family.

That's what they were: a family. Maybe not by blood but they were all close knit like a family should be. And James was the glue that held them all together.

"There was too much blood loss. There was a puncture wound on the aorta and the doctors attempted everything they could to save him. He's passed on, I'm sorry," she said gloomily and left them alone.

"Fucking shit," Sirius took a swing at the vending machine nearby and fashioned a dent into the front.

"This isn't fair, it wasn't his time," whispered Lupin.

"Oh dear, oh me, oh my, oh dear, oh me, oh my," was the only thing Peter could manage to spit out.

That was it? Just like that James was gone. The love of her life had vanished and she never even had the chance to say goodbye. How was any of this fair?

It wasn't. None of this was fair. James hadn't just passed way from natural causes, he was murdered. Stripped away from her side by the sick, twisted plan that somebody had devised by themselves. Was nothing going to be done about any of this? An innocent man had just been stabbed in the simple, quiet village of Godric's Hollow.

"There's a police man over here Lil, he wants to speak to all of us," Lupin brought her over.

Everybody was gathered around three police officers but only one of them seemed to take notice of her. He was a tall, dark man who stood with confidence. Lily thought he looked very professional and was glad this was the man they sent here to talk to them.

"Hello Miss Potter, I'm Officer Kingsley Shacklebolt. I'm handling your husband's case," He took Lily's hand with both of his and shook it. "Now we don't have any leads yet but I can assure you we shall be working day-in and day-out to get to the bottom of this." He had a very deep, booming voice that seemed to rumble.

"So you know nothing right now?" Lily asked. All she wanted was one piece of information to settle her mind.

"Sorry madam can't say we do. I sent the rest of my team down there just a few minutes ago. We don't think it would be wise of you to return to your house and stay there either. Not only would it be traumatizing, but we feel like it is not safe either."

"What am I going to do with my things then?" She obviously couldn't just wear the same clothes until they were done their investigation. She left her purse and money at home too.

"We can take you back there now if you wish. Do you have somewhere else to stay while we're doing our business?" asked Kingsley.

Lily wasn't all that fond of her sister and she was sure Petunia's feelings were mutual. It wasn't even that she didn't like her sister, she loved her, but Petunia had always had different opinions on everything Lily ever liked. This wasn't a time in Lily's life where she could just push her sister's nagging and complaining aside.

Petunia never liked James for that matter either. She was a cold and bitter woman and Lily was also sure that she wouldn't show much sympathy either. Petunia always felt that there was something strange about James, but it was probably because he was from a different society class than they were.

None of that ever bothered Lily.

"You can stay with me if you need to, Lil," offered Lupin.

"Oh Remus, that would be fantastic" she said hugging him.

There was a cough, "Again with the flirting," added Sirius.

"Actually, I'm being nice by offering Lily a place to stay while she needs it. I never heard any proposals from you," Snapped Lupin.

"Well, I mean I would have but my place isn't really what you would call homely," he smirked.

"So then shut up," retorted Lupin. "When did you want to leave, Lily?"

"I'm going to say goodbye to James before we leave," she sighed and started down the hallway.

With every step Lily took she felt heavier and heavier. Each step was one closer to saying goodbye.

"James Potter, please," she said when she reached the nurses reception desk.

The nurse pointed her pen the room directly behind Lily.

It was dark when she stepped inside. There was a curtain pulled all the way around a bed next to the window. The sun was slowly rising on the horizon. James loved the sunrise. She started for the bed when she realized she wasn't alone. There was a voice coming from behind the curtain.

"Oh dear, oh me, oh my. What have I done? Oh dear James, oh Prongs. None of this was meant to happen," squeaked the voice.

"Hello?" she called out.

"Eek!" a head emerged and Lily was surprised to see the face of Peter Pettigrew come out, "Just saying goodbye to a dear friend. He will missed terribly, Lily" and with that, he scurried down the hallway.

Lily had been trying to avoid this moment for the longest time, but finally she needed to face it. She took a deep breath and pulled back the curtain. There laid the still body of her once husband. Lily couldn't help herself but let out a wail and throw herself onto the bed with James. He was cold and lifeless, and she couldn't stop herself form checking for a pulse. Hoping that maybe there was some mistake and he was just exhausted from loss of blood.

No hope. He was gone. Memories flooded Lily's mind but all she could do was weep.

Getting up was the hardest thing she ever needed to do, but she knew that she couldn't stay there all night. Eventually his body would need to be moved.

She straightened herself up and took one last look at James. She removed his glasses, pushed back his messy hair from his forehead and placed a tender kiss on his cheek.

Before she closed the door behind her, she stuck her head back inside and whispered her last words to him, "Goodbye James Potter. Until we meet again,"

**So there we are! I'm not sure if I clarified in the first chapter, but this is a non-magical world. Also, Harry was never born so if you have an issue with that...And if you haven't noticed I still make references to the books, example: Lupin's scars hehe So just give me your feedback and all that jazz. And ya I know, Snape hasn't shown up yet, all great things must wait, I guess.**


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